Many insiders said his resignation was part of a deal allowing him to avoid the humiliation of a public impeachment in Parliament and perhaps avoid criminal charges for actions during his almost nine years as president, including seizing power while army chief in 1999, declaring emergency rule in November, and firing the country's top judges, also in November.

"I am leaving with satisfaction that whatever I could do for this country, I did that with honesty," Musharraf told the nation in a televised speech Monday afternoon. "I am a human too. I could have made mistakes. I believe that the people will forgive me, and if there were any shortcomings or any mistakes, they were unintentional."

In his speech, Musharraf defended his tenure and said he was resigning to spare the country from the ordeal of impeachment. He said if he were impeached, the government would not be able to prove any charge against him.

And here's why Musharraf's departure is important to the U.S.:

The exit of Musharraf from the Pakistan political scene adds to the fragile country's turmoil at a time when the United States is asking it to do more against a growing militancy along its border with Afghanistan. Pakistan's importance extends far outside its South Asian borders; it is the world's only known Islamic nation with the nuclear bomb, and some of the world's most wanted terrorists are thought to be hiding along its rugged borders.

The U.S. considered Musharraf a key ally in the war on terrorism, but in many ways his support of the U.S. contributed to his unpopularity and eventual downfall, analysts said.

Lou Fintor, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, declined comment on Musharraf's resignation and referred all questions to Washington for official reaction.

I wish I could believe that this piece of filth was really permanently gone. However, with his strong ties to the Pakistani military and the Al Qaeda supporting security services, we may see him coming back to power with a column of tanks and surge of suicide bombings.

I wish I could say "good riddance" to loathesome thug. The problem is we have to worry about who is going to fill the leadership vacuum and assume the command of the nuclear arsenal (remember the nukes, folks?) God help us if they're Taliban types.
But then Obambi (wanting to show us all how very macho he is) has assured that he's ready to start lobbing cruise missiles into Pakistan, so we needn't worry, right?

Another head of state with whom this Administration played cozy without regard to the manner in which they came to power or how they governed their people has fallen on his sword. Meddle Meddle has again spelled Trouble. When will we ever learn to allow other countries to resolve their own destiny. When we meddle this far from home it only inflames other powers in the region and prevents natural neigbors from resolving their relations in a peaceful manner.

Dougie,
You still haven't answered my earlier questions, how is Obama going to magically end the war in Iraq and the energy crisis.
But now new questions come up: How is Obama going to magically root out al Queda in Pakistan? And how is he going to get the cooperation of a regime that will most likely be hostile to the US?
The questions keep piling up, Dougie. Any answers?

Posted by: Frank | August 18, 2008 10:57 AM
Frank,
This isn't the only administration to cozy up to this repellant thug. Nor is he the first of America's befriended thugs. Some people call that "Realpolitick". I won't argue that it's right.
However (and without defending the Bush Administration) I have to take issue with your larger, isolationist premise. Should we have allowed Nazi Germany to resolve it's own destiny? Or Serbia in the 1990s? And should we allow enforced starvation and genocide to continue unabated in Africa today? Does not a superpower -- especially in this shrinking world -- have a moral responsibility to right some wrongs when it can?
I'd say yes.

Post a comment

(Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments aren't posted immediately. They're screened for relevance to the topic, obscenity, spam and over-the-top personal attacks. We can't always get them up as soon as we'd like so please be patient. Thanks for visiting The Swamp.)